Wednesday, July 30, 2014

After Google made the initial decision to release
information about its employee demographics, others were sure to follow
suit.Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest
have since published their company numbers, and they are less than
shocking.

The results are in: the vast majority behind the workforce
of Silicon Valley’s biggest powerhouses is men, and not just any men, but white
men.

While this information is nothing new, it does raise already
present concerns about the overwhelming gender and diversity issues surrounding
the tech industry.

Below are the results from Pinterest’s employee demographic
study.

According to the study, 79 percent of tech jobs at Pinterest are
held by men as well as 81 percent of all leadership roles.Not to mention a whopping 92 percent of
Pinterest’s overall workforce is either White (50%) or Asian (42%).

These numbers clearly show a need for change within the tech world.

There are still a few major Silicon Valley tech companies
that have yet to publish their demographic data, but they are all expected to
be similar to what we have already seen from Google and Pinterest.

Monday, July 28, 2014

The Women in STEM brochure is HERE. Download it now and
find out what’s on offer at this
inspiring Summit aimed at answering the question of 'how to attract and retain
more women in STEM fields: http://bit.ly/1nO4fg4

Key Summit Benefits:

HR Professionals: LEARN about best case practices in
smart STEM investing and participate in
company presentations to help feed your pipelines of STEM talent.

Scientist, Engineers, Mathematicians and IT
experts: ENGAGE in discussions and share your stories about staying in
STEM fields and partake in mentorship opportunities.

Diversity and Inclusions and Corporate Social Responsibility
teams: SHOWCASE your corporate culture to future STEM talent and change
the makeup of America’s workforce.

Talent and Acquisition Representatives: MEET recent
STEM graduates and hear feedback about what is important in recruiting and
retaining female talent in the next generation of STEM professionals.

Women in STEM Exchange Idea Summit Boston

October 21, 2014
Center for Women and Business
Bentley University, Waltham, MA

Do not miss your chance to participate in these thought
provoking subjects:

· Besty
Myers on... Engaging Men as Full Partners in the Advancement of Women...

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

As it stands
today, women receive 57 percent of all bachelor’s degrees given in the United
States, as well as 60 percent of all master’s degrees.So why, even when backed with an outstanding
number of graduates, are women still underrepresented in science, technology,
engineering and math (STEM) fields?

There is no
doubt this question invites debate.Do
women stray from careers in STEM due to unseen social pressures and gender
bias?Or is it because women believe
they are not cut out for success in such fields?Whatever the reason, Ravishly.com sought out
to find an answer to the ever present question of why women are
underrepresented in STEM.

The online
content site, focused on all-things women, asked seven prominent women to share
their ideas on the current situation and possible solutions for recalibrating
the STEM workforce.

According to the National Girls Collaborative
Project, with the exception of engineering and physics, girls in grades
K-12 perform as well as boys in advanced science and mathematics classes.
However, a divergence materializes between the genders at the undergraduate
level of study:

In 2010, 3% of bachelor's degrees in
engineering, 6.1% of bachelor's degrees in physical sciences, 5.2% of
bachelor's degrees in mathematics, 4.9% of bachelor's degrees in computer
sciences, 9.3% of bachelor's degrees in biological sciences, and 13% of
bachelor's degrees in social sciences were awarded to minority women (NSF,
2013).

Thus, it is unsurprising that women are
underrepresented in the STEM workforce though they comprise 58.1% of the total
workforce.

Part of the trouble can be traced to
college, where female students lack role models and do not receive equal
support from faculty. Katherine Milkman of The Wharton School led research
conducted at 259 top-tier schools across 89 disciplines, and found that
professors "ignored requests from women and minorities at a higher rate
than requests from white males . . . We see a 25-percentage-point gap in the response
rate to Caucasian males versus women and minorities."

Lexi Herrick

HuffPo Women contributing writer;
marketer for global technology companyThere is an issue with trying to determine
why STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is still a
four-letter word to women: We're asking the wrong question. We should be asking
instead, Why is STEM still a four-letter word to girls? Representing women in
technology and science begins with raising girls to become a part of those
fields.

If you're a woman and belong to the
majority of women not
employed in a STEM occupation, can you still remember the moment you lost
a genuine interest or confidence in those subjects? Well, I can. I often
claim to have always been dreadful at studying anything scientific, but
that really isn't true. In fact, I used to excel in the science--I loved
everything about it. Until high school, that is. The critical years of shifting
between a teenager and a young adult are a main culprit of young girls
falling away from STEM.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

The women truly had the floor at the Clinton Foundation’s
“From STEM to Success: A No Ceilings Conversation” held in Denver on June 23rd. Led by Chelsea Clinton and a panel of influential
women in STEM fields, the conversation focused on the ever-present need to get
more girls interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

During the discussion, past and present statistics about
women in the STEM workforce were used to highlight the need for change.The statistics indicated a negative shift of
the diversity in STEM over the past couple decades.It was said that in 1984, 37 percent of
computer-science degrees were received by women; however, only 12 percent of
the same degrees are given to women today.This obvious decline of women pursuing careers in STEM is why Chelsea
Clinton and the Clinton Foundation are seeking a solution to one of America’s
largest remaining gender gaps.

“We’re looking from 1995 until 2015 as to where women and
girls have gained in terms of rights and opportunities around the world and in
the United States to where gaps still persist. And STEM around the world, but acutely here in
the U.S, is an area where not only the gap remains but the gap has widened in
the last 20 years,” said Clinton.She attributes
the widening gender gap to young women and girls not always being encouraged to
consider careers in STEM.

The problem seems to start in the early years of the
education system, where middle school teachers have been found to call on boys
more often than girls in science and math classes, discouraging the girls’
desire to stick with these subjects.Other problems include the increasing social pressures women see in the
STEM world, like their current underrepresentation in those fields.

Some young students spoke up at the event about their
personal experiences with the current social pressures facing women in the STEM
industry.“There’s a lot of boys in our
school who if they see a girl doing sciencey stuff they judge you and call you
a nerd and stuff. It’s totally fine for the boys, but people judge you for
being a girl who likes science.”Gender
bias like this is what the Clinton Foundation’s “No Ceilings Initiative” is
attempting to get rid of.

Recently, the Clinton Foundation has joined up with Google
on its “Made With Code Project,” which aims to provide young women with female
role models, or mentors, in an attempt to offer guidance for a future in STEM.

For more on the Clinton Foundation’s “From STEM to Success:
A No Ceilings Conversation,” and what is being done to close the gender gap in
STEM, go to: http://ti.me/1vdCY5v